first time home buyers abbotsford

Why Abbotsford is the Most Idyllic Place

to Move in British Columbia

Retirees, new couples and people who are generally looking for a major change in their life tend to move to a different place, and the decision to choose one is never a matter of emotions and feelings; rather, they solely depend upon the fulfillment of basic needs. The panoramic views, peaceful environment and beauty of the place are just some of the additional benefits, which is why Abbotsford seems like one of the most idyllic places to move to. Here’s why:

Abundance of Properties:

One of the most difficult hurdles faced when moving to a new place is finding a suitable house. Most people forget this important detail and have to do with dreary houses till they find a better one. In Abbotsford though, one will always find a lot of listings of Abbotsford apartments for sale and Abbotsford townhouses at reasonable rates. Fortunately, for the movers, real estate in Abbotsford is all but thriving, and finding a beautiful house on their own demands and a preferable location is neither a problem nor a time-consuming task.

Job Opportunities:

One of the most important factors to consider moving to a new place is the availability of job opportunities there, something which Abbotsford seems to have lucked out in as well. Since Abbotsford is one of the largest cities is Fraser Valley district and is home to a large and thriving agricultural sector. On top of the job opportunities which are limitless, there is also a chance of self-employment here. People that are suppliers, manufacturers, traders, retailers, or stockers will hugely benefit from the agricultural economy of the city. Even retirees can find interesting things to do as they enjoy their humble abode by the beautiful lakes in Abbotsford.

Friendly Neighborhood and communal family:

By living in a place like Abbotsford, one can never feel alone. The neighborhood is mostly occupied by native families and old people who are warm and welcoming to everyone. Then, there are all the communal activities and events that make everyone feel like a part of one big family.

A Family place:

Real estate in Abbotsford is also booming because the city constrains everything a family might need to live their life in peace and harmony. There are 46 public schools with high standards of education, family restaurants, community centers, art councils and even parks and vacation tripping spots to make living there a great family experience. Children who grow up in a place like Abbotsford learn to be confident, friendly, helping and respectful, not to mention hardworking with all that tedious farm work.

Cost of Living:

Cost of living in Abbotsford is affordable and a lot more manageable than most other parts of the world. Healthy eating supplies are in abundance yet low in rates, with real estate in Abbotsford comparatively cheap as well.

Recreational Activities:

Summers and vacations are never boring in Abbotsford with so much to do. The city, with its unique landscapes, offers a wide range of sports activities and recreational opportunities like hiking, horse riding, trailing, wine shopping and barn days.

Now that we know all the great things about moving to Abbotsford, don’t waste another second and start looking into the Abbotsford real estate market for your idyllic home.

Comparative analysis is a method used by realtors and homeowners who want to sell or buy a property by comparing it with other properties in the area. The method used for comparative analysis is to check the active or recently sold listings in the area, which are much like their own.

What is CMA?

Comparative Market Analysis or CMA in short, is used by real estate experts. As mentioned above, it’s an estimated value of your home. Remember, it’s not an appraisal rather a calculated estimated value with realtor tools by providing you a detailed report comparing your property with other properties in the area. This may include Sold listings, Active listings, Pending sales and Expired listings.

What this report contains is the list of Active listings, Recently sold and expired listings within your area. A realtor will try to find a property identical to yours or as close as possible, but sometimes it’s difficult to find an identical property in the area. CMA is purely an estimated value based on the comparables, but it can give you a close idea of the listing or property which you want to buy(in case of a buyer).

How is CMA done?

CMA is a subjective way to find the value of your property. It may be limited by comparing properties in your own area but sometimes your realtor may have to go a few miles away to find comparables as he may not find them in your area.

If you or your realtor find a satisfactory home or property compared to your home in your area it’s good! But if not then you might want to search comparables in other areas. The factors to compare are:

Square footage

Number of bedrooms/bathrooms

Type of construction

Age

Style

Neighbourhood

Type of landscape

Lot/Land size

Amenities (Swimming pool / Workshop/ Big garage)

Example (comparable)

House 2 floor 3000 sqft on 6000 sqft lot sold recently for $500,000. This house had 4 bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, workshop 400 sqft, No garage, Swimming pool, 10 years old, No renovation needed, Good landscape with a vegetable garden in the back. Hardiplank with stones in the front.

Active listings: Number of active listings are also important but can’t be entirely relied upon. A desperate seller may list their house for less than the actual price for a quick sale as compared to other active listings in the area whose seller wants a higher price thus willing to wait. Market conditions are the main factors deciding the value of your house depending on if it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.

The best way is to compare it with the most recent sale of homes in your area going back weeks or months as similar to your own house.

Pending sales: These are the ones sold but still waiting for subjects to be removed or waiting to clear some other hurdles (like in the case of rental waiting for the tenants to move out, or financing, etc.) before it can be transferred to the new owner.

It’s all confidential information, so only the agent which is buying or selling will know about it. It will become public once the sale is finalized after removing the subjects.

Local realtors are knowledgeable and may have idea about the price of these pending sales, so it’s always a good idea to get a local realtor for buying and selling.

Expired listings: These are important in CMA as it gives you an exact idea why a listing of a particular house was expired. For example, maybe it was listed for a higher price than the market value, or the condition of the property itself.

You may find an expired listing and compare it to your house as it may give you a clear idea about the price of your house and what you may want to list it at.

Gathering data from local MLS:

As an average homeowner, it may be difficult for you to find all the data and try to understand it. You definitely need a professional realtor to explain what it means and where the market is going.

There are also a few real estate websites (Zillow.com, Rew.ca, Trulia.com, homeZfinder.com) which makes your homework easy to get an idea about the value (CMA) of your home. Some of these sites have online tools to do an automatic CMA which makes your life easy.

After gathering all the data, it’s you or your realtor’s choice to dig deep and find your home value as close as possible. It’s not easy work and may take a few hours to a full day to get a good idea about the value of a house.

For a homeowner, it’s a good idea to drive around to look at the house which he is comparing his house with. For a local realtor, it’s easy because he knows the local market and he may have done a showing of that particular house. It’s always a wise decision to let a professional local realtor do CMA.

Many realtors offer free CMA reports.

Age of Construction:

Age is one of the biggest factors in determining the value of your home. Older homes may require renovations and newer homes may be built with new technology with high efficient equipment, energy star rating windows with good insulation, etc.

Older homes may be historic and may have more privacy with a big private backyard, which may contribute to their high value.

Square Feet:

Square feet of the house is important as the cost of building a bigger house is more, but there is a limit to it. The cost doesn’t increase after a certain size. This may be due to a limited number of buyers for huge houses than average homes. The average house between 2100 to 2600 sqft 2 story houses with basement is always in demand and retain its value.

Attractions of the house:

Swimming pool, Number of fireplaces, garage, and big workshop are also contributing factors to increasing value of the house.

Renovations:

New roof, Windows, Paint, Furnace, Water tank, Flooring are also big contributing factors to increasing value of an older home.

TD Canada trust bank is the first back announced to increase their mortgage prime rate to 2.85% that is .15 points increase.

Only the people with variable mortgage rates will be affected. Fixed term mortgage clients will remain unaffected. There is no change to Credit lines or any other product.

its hard to understand why TD Canada trust has done this where on the other hand some economists are predicting another rate cut by Bank of Canada. My personal thought on this is that all the Banks are afraid of losing money in the mortgage products as CMHC introduce these new rules for in mortgage business due to this all the banks has to put their own share of money as compared to previously all the risk was CMHC. Banks are not in the business to loose but to use your money and make huge profits.